To take my sports mad Ds1 to the GP so he can get his heart checked out.

[MsJamieFraser]

Ds1 (10) plays trains/plays football 4 times a week, he also does athletics, judo and swimming once weekly also...

When at school he also does more football, hockey, tennis and rugby (represents the school in these sports) he absoutely loves doing all this, and because he's fit and active and eats a nutritious and healthy diet with plenty of water I've never been overly fussed, he choose and enjoys doing all these sports and gets really upset if he can't attend any of them, except the past few months I've been getting increasing anxious and not because of ds1.

My dh coaches at academy level and also our sons football club (county), all we have been hearing lately is young children and adults dropping dead! We heard of 3 children last month alone.

Dh school friend dropped down dead also when he was ds age at Sports Day.

Today in my home town a young boy has died after 6 days in a coma after his heart stopped at football training.

AIBU to even contemplate asking the doctor to test ds heart, would he think I was some crazy mother, it has me worried sick!

There is actually a charity that goes around doing this but you have to be through puberty before they can see the markers I believe. CRY I'm taking all of my sports mad children to this once they have gone through puberty, DS1's was great, all volunteers and brilliant service. I know it's not exactly what you are asking but I thought I'd leave it her for future use.

I would love to get my younger children screened as they do sport at a county level but according to the website;

"Our lower age limit for screening at CRY is 14 years of age. This is because we believe that most people at the age of 14 are well into puberty. This is important for us because conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy do not manifest fully until the pubertal spurt. Therefore there is a risk that if we screen people well below the age of 14 who have not reached puberty, we will miss people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Conversely, in people under the age of 14, the heart is physically immature. Therefore there are certain abnormalities which include T-wave inversions, V1, V2 and V3 are common in young people. Unfortunately this ECG pattern overlaps with that seen in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy so there is a risk of generating false positives in that situation. In summary, if we screened people under the age of 14, we may have false negatives in relation to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and we may have false positives in relation to arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy."

So I'm waiting until they are through puberty and not one second longer!

Thanks you, I'd heard of CRY, but wasn't entirely sure what to was, so thank you the link and the reason why it's done at puberty, its a awful feeling isn't it, it/he has me worried sick.

Ds will be booked in when he's through puberty. And I quote you MrSlant "not a second longer" either

It worries me too but I'd rather they were out there running and swimming and kicking stuff any day of the week. Whilst counting the days down to screening!

The thing is - what if you have the scan and it turns out he is at risk of sudden death? Will you stop him playing?
It's worth thinking about before you rush into it.

No you're not. We live in France and every year the children have to get certificates in order to participate in sport. When my son turned 13 the doctor insisted he had a ECG before she would issue the certificate.

It wouldn't be available on the NHS unless you have a family history of sudden cardiac death. Private or by a charity.

YANBU with the amount of sports he's playing.
My Ds had to have a full physical for sports teams at his old high school.
My friend had a son same age who did collapse and die after his heart stopped unexpectedly he was just 18 and playing football with friends at the time. They had no family history they knew of at the time, turns out Mum has the same condition and is now on medication and monitored but continues to exercise.

Definitely recommend CRY, had a scan there myself.